12 YEARS A SLAVE WINS BRITAIN’S TOP BAFTA AWARD

At the BAFTA awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, Steve McQeen’s 12 Years a Slave was named Best Film, and its star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, took the Best Actor prize. Nevertheless, the lion’s share of the awards on Saturday went to Warner Bros.’ Gravity, which came away with six trophies, including Outstanding British Film and Best Director (Afonso Cuarón). The film had received the most nominations — 11. The two movies have engaged in a two-film face-off at virtually every major awards presentation. (The Producers Guild of America last month elected to call it a tie.) And it’s believed that the Oscar race has also narrowed down to the two, also. In other BAFTA verdicts, Cate Blanchett won the Best Actress award for her performance in Blue Jasmine, while the supporting actor/actress awards went to Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips and Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle.